Lead Foot, Ladybugs and a Little Bit More

My day started off well (Please insert sarcasm here.). I was on my way to work, wondering if we were going to have another mass invasion of lady bugs today, when I noticed flashing lights in my rearview mirror. Yes, I got pulled over for speeding and admittedly I was speeding. I was so carried away by my ladybug daydreams that I forgot to set my cruise control. The officer who pulled me over was the one officer who would issue a speeding ticket to his own mother. Amazingly enough he gave me a written warning and I'm not even sure that he knew I was his coworker. (Please note I did not cry, mention where I worked or try any other antics to get out of a ticket.) I may not have received a ticket, but I still had to show up to work and face humiliation from my fellow dispatchers. That right there should be reason enough to escape ticket free.

Speaking of the ladybugs- Ryan came home yesterday after work and vacuumed up the lady bugs. What a chore. By the time he came home they had scattered all over our upstairs. I was proactive and closed the bedroom doors, which kept the intruder levels to a minimum in those rooms. Ryan sprayed the outside of our house with bug killer and left the vacuum upstairs. I have a feeling we'll be eliminating lady bugs for quite awhile!

I forgot to mention last week that they have finished construction on the bridge and removed the traffic light. Sweet freedom!

Thank you everyone who voted for Kaden and Angel Ava's mommy and for passing the word along. They won the furniture contest and Kaden will soon have a new bedroom!

Now for some funny Aric anecdotes:

-Yesterday Aric and I were in the Commissary. I had him in the baby bjorn facing out. For the most part he grabbed my jacket sleeves and hung on for dear life. Occasionally he grabbed the handle of the shopping cart. At the checkout lane, I moved away from the cart so an employee could help me unload my groceries. As I stepped away Aric reached out, grabbed a bag of M&M's and held on for dear life. I had to pry his little fingers off of the bag. I hope this isn't a glimpse of what is to come.

-Last night Aric and I were sitting on the floor petting the cat. After awhile the cat started attacking my hand, which is a usual response from this particular cat. Aric grabbed the cat's hind leg and started laughing. He's going to be a mischievous little boy, isn't he?

-Aric mastered rolling over from back to belly, but somewhere along the line forgot he can roll from belly to back. This has caused a large amount of frustration on his part when he finds himself on his belly and doesn't want to be there. This morning he was in his crib while I was getting ready. I could hear him talking to himself, but didn't go check on him since he wasn't fussing. I finished getting ready and decided to check on him before I went downstairs. Poor little guy. He was facedown in his crib, crosswise with his two little feet stuck through the crib bars. I think he was just about to the point of frustration. He'll have to remember he can roll over on his back and learn to not stick his feet out of the crib bars!

Costume Free

If you show up here on Friday and expect to see pictures of Aric dressed up for Halloween, you're going to be sorely disappointed. I never celebrated Halloween growing up, so it's hard for me to drum up any excitement towards it. I just can't justify buying Aric a costume that he'll only wear once and he won't even know what the point of it is. (He will also most likely be uncomfortable and turn it orange from the sweet potatoes or squash that he ate beforehand.) If you see us on Friday this is what we'll look like: Aric will be dressed up like a baby, Ryan will be dressed up like a mechanic and I'll be dressed up like a dispatcher. Edgy, I know.

Invasion

I heard a noise down our seldom used hallway, flipped on the light, and encountered this:

Those are lady bugs. Hundreds of them. I think we should seal that door off!

Bliss

Today was a good day. I napped when Aric napped and did nothing more ambitious than three loads of laundry. The best part was hanging out with Aric all day.

Hilarity Ensues

Ryan, Aric and I were all in Aric’s room this evening. I was sitting on the floor stain-treating Aric’s clothes while Ryan was getting Aric ready for his bath on the changing table. Ryan pulled Aric’s diaper off and turned towards me to comment on how messy it was. As Ryan looks back, Aric pees in a perfect stream directly into his own face and open mouth. Ryan starts laughing so hard he doubles over. I tell Ryan to at least clean off Aric’s face. Aric starts screaming. Bath time gets moved up to right then.

Ryan brings Aric to the bathtub and I grab the spray nozzle to clean Aric’s behind off before setting him in the tub. I forgot that it takes a moment for the water to warm up and end up spraying ice cold water on Aric’s butt. He screams louder.

We get him calmed down and into his bathtub with warm water. As I start to wash him, Aric again feels the need to pee. I pick Aric up and ask Ryan to dump the water out of the tub. Ryan turns over the tub not realizing that the spray nozzle is in the tub filling it up. The nozzle flips over and shoots water all over the bathroom.

This whole event took less than five minutes. It’s great to be parents!

Squash

Crossroads

**My husband pointed out that "I'm dumb" and wrote that we use disposable diapers not cloth diapers. What can I say, I was tired!

**Thanks to everyone who has commented, called or e-mailed me. I really feel your support! And I don't feel bad anymore that I'm not planning on making homemade babyfood. Gerber will work just fine for us for awhile!

Here’s a little update, since I’ve been remiss in saying anything sooner. Ryan went back to work last week. They have hired him back on in a temporary position. This time we are aware that his job ends sometime in January. To be on the safe side, he has applied for four different positions with the same company. It’s such a relief to have him employed again!

…And Ryan was able to turn in his Army packet on time! Well, actually, he was given two extensions because he was having so many problems getting his release paperwork signed by his National Guard unit. We really left this to God. We could’ve driven ourselves crazy with worry (and we did a little), because it seemed so hopeless to get his paperwork turned in on time. It has been so neat to watch God line things up and see this paperwork go through the system in a month and a half. We have been told that normally this paperwork takes anywhere from three to six months to travel through the National Guard chain of command. Now we wait... Ryan won’t hear anything until November 21st on whether they want him to go back into the Army or not. We are very optimistic. We have heard that he is one of sixty candidates and the only one who has any background education related to the field. And if this doesn’t work out, then we know God has some other path for us to take. Right now we’re just trusting in Him.

I am at a crossroads. It’s not even that big of a deal, but it really hit me today when I was in the grocery store. Eventually when Aric is old enough and capable of eating more foods, I plan on using a baby food grinder and feeding him whatever we are eating. I thought that before this time arrived I would prepare his food, puree it and freeze it. He would have a freezer full of home cooked baby food instead of jars of Gerber. Now, I’m rethinking the time and effort that would have to go into all of that homemade, pureed, frozen baby food. I think I am exhausted, overspent and in need of things to be easy. My wakeup call- Tuesday at 1am Aric woke up to eat. I changed him, brought him back to our bed, fed him and carried him back to his room where I laid him on his changing table. Half asleep, I realized that I hadn’t put him in his crib. It scared me. What if I hadn’t realized my mistake and left him on the changing table? He could’ve rolled off and hurt himself and it would’ve been my fault. I realized I’m dangerously exhausted. I already make laundry soap, use disposable diapers, and breastfeed. Is it really going to make a huge difference if I buy jars of Gerber until he reaches the point where we can use the baby food grinder? Is it going to make me a bad mother? I don’t think it will affect him one way or another in the grand scheme of things.

Anyone want the two sweet potatoes I bought today to cook? I’m sure not going to eat them!